1. Mexico ants: incidence and abundance along the Nearctic-Neotropical interface
- Author
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Aldo De la Mora, Stacy M. Philpott, Reuber Antoniazzi, Bolívar Aponte, Jean-Paul Lachaud, Milan Janda, Margarita Villalvazo-Palacios, Agustín Rafael García Romero, Fernando Montiel-Reyes, Tatiana Joaqui, Ian MacGregor-Fors, Veronica Zamora-Gutierrez, Fernando Varela-Hernández, Federico Escobar, Saúl Ugalde-Lezama, Gabriela Castaño-Meneses, Miguel Vásquez-Bolaños, Ashley García Colón Sandoval, Mario J. Aguilar-Méndez, Cristopher Albor, Jesús Lumar Reyes-Muñoz, Diana A. Ahuatzin, Patricia Rojas, Sandra Luz Gómez-Acevedo, Juan Antonio Rodríguez-Garza, Javier Martínez Toledo, Edgar Chávez-González, Luis N. Quiroz-Robedo, Tatianne Marques, Jéssica Caroline de Faria Falcão, Brenda Juárez-Juárez, Katherine K. Ennis, Viviana Martínez Mandujano, Juan Francisco Pérez-Domínguez, Pedro Luna, Wesley Dáttilo, Luis A. Díaz-Montiel, Erick J. Corro, Iris Saraeny Rivera-Salinas, Miguel Mauricio Correa-Ramírez, Adrián Bonilla-Ramírez, Mariana Cuautle, José Domingo Cruz-Labana, Maya Rocha-Ortega, Laura Sáenz, Claudia E. Moreno, Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald, Jaime Hernández-Flores, Alfredo Ramírez-Hernández, Ana Leticia Escalante-Jiménez, Luis A. Tarango-Arámbula, Ivette Alicia Chamorro-Florescano, Michel Pale, Miguel Á. García-Martínez, Ricardo Madrigal-Chavero, Roger Guevara, María Gómez-Lazaga, Fabricio Villalobos, José Javier Reynoso-Campos, Julieta Benítez-Malvido, Rene Torres-Ricario, Andrés I. Villarreal, Jorge E. Valenzuela-González, Zachary Hajian-Forooshani, Isaías Chairez-Hernández, Irene Alcalá-Martínez, Jorge Víctor Horta-Vega, Citlalli Castillo-Guevara, Robert W. Jones, Ana Paola Martínez-Falcón, José Luis Navarrete-Heredia, Gibrán Renoy Pérez-Toledo, Rosamond Coates, Gabriela Pérez-Lachaud, Miguel Angel Soto-Cárdenas, Dora L. Martínez-Tlapa, Martha L. Baena, Martha Madora-Astudillo, Madai Rosas-Mejía, Instituto de Ecologia (INECOL), ECOSUR Unidad Chetumal, EI Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología [Mexico] (CONACYT)-Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología [Mexico] (CONACYT), Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale (CRCA), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut des sciences du cerveau de Toulouse. (ISCT), Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), and Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-CHU Toulouse [Toulouse]-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J)-CHU Toulouse [Toulouse]-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,biodiversity hotspot ,geographic range ,[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] ,Population ,Biodiversity ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,species abundance ,Animals ,education ,Endemism ,Formicidae ,Mexico ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,education.field_of_study ,Myrmicinae ,biology ,Ecology ,Ants ,010604 marine biology & hydrobiology ,Incidence ,Mexican fauna ,15. Life on land ,Formicinae ,species incidence ,biology.organism_classification ,Hymenoptera ,Biota ,Biodiversity hotspot ,Ponerinae ,inventory ,sampling methods ,Taxon ,Geography - Abstract
Mexico is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, with an important proportion of endemism mainly because of the convergence of the Nearctic and Neotropical biogeographic regions, which generate great diversity and species turnover at different spatial scales. However, most of our knowledge of the Mexican ant biota is limited to a few well-studied taxa, and we lack a comprehensive synthesis of ant biodiversity information. For instance, most of the knowledge available in the literature on Mexican ant fauna refers only to species lists by states, or is focused on only a few regions of the country, which prevents the study of several basic and applied aspects of ants, from diversity and distribution to conservation. Our aims in this data paper are therefore (1) to compile all the information available regarding ants across the Mexican territory, and (2) to identify major patterns in the gathered data set and geographic gaps in order to direct future sampling efforts. All records were obtained from raw data, including both unpublished and published information. After exhaustive filtering and updating information and synonyms, we compiled a total of 21,731 records for 887 ant species distributed throughout Mexico from 1894 to 2018. These records were concentrated mainly in the states of Chiapas (n = 6,902, 32.76%) and Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (n = 4,329, 19.92%), which together comprise half the records. The subfamily with the highest number of records was Myrmicinae (n = 10,458 records, 48.12%), followed by Formicinae (n = 3,284, 15.11%) and Ponerinae (n = 1,914, 8.8%). Most ant records were collected in the Neotropical region of the country (n = 12,646, 58.19%), followed by the Mexican transition zone (n = 5,237, 24.09%) and the Nearctic region (n = 3,848, 17.72%). Native species comprised 95.46% of the records (n = 20,745). To the best of our knowledge, this is the most complete data set available to date in the literature for the country. We hope that this compilation will encourage researchers to explore different aspects of the population and community research of ants at different spatial scales, and to aid in the establishment of conservation policies and actions. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this data paper when using its data for publications or teaching events.
- Published
- 2019
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